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The Moral Maze celebrates 500th 'birthday'

Will The Moral Maze ever find its way out of the obscure nooks and crannies of the evening schedules and back to the centre - the centre of national life and its former 9am primetime slot? Radio 4's ethical debate series broadcasts its 500th edition on Wednesday night not from the usual Broadcasting House studio, but the nearby Royal Society of Medicine. It will be live, as usual, and probably tackle a big, overarching theme rather than one of the week's news stories. But doubtless little will be said about the morality, or wisdom, of maintaining such a vivacious and vital programme in evening exile.

In its early years The Moral Maze was a sensation. This was where David Starkey took his first steps onto the national stage, quickly becoming the Rudest Man in Britain and thereafter its best-known historian. This was where Rabbi Hugo Gryn clashed so electrifyingly with Richard